WELSH international Richard Smith has revealed how he feared the worst after suffering an alarming neck injury.

WELSH international Richard Smith has revealed how he feared the worst after suffering an alarming neck injury.

The Cardiff Blues scrum-half was stretchered off wearing a neck brace following a collision during Friday night's defeat to Northampton at the Arms Park.

He then had to spend an anxious night in hospital as doctors studied the full extent of the damage.

Thankfully, a scan revealed there was no fracture, with ligament damage the diagnosis.

This still means the 30-year-old could be out of action for several months, leaving the Blues facing a scrum-half headache.

But Smith is quick to count his blessings and recognise things could have been far worse - admitting thoughts of the serious neck injury suffered by Gwyn Jones at the same ground had crossed his mind.

"It was frightening when it happened," he said. "I had gone down the blind side and, as I was tackled, I pushed the ball back from the ruck.

"I went to get up and was almost in a sitting positing when I got hit by the forwards.

"Someone landed on top of me and pushed my head right forward on to my chest, which over-extended the back of my neck. I could feel a few crunches and grinds in my neck, which was pretty worrying.

"The first thing that went through my mind was just to keep still. I tried to feel my fingers and toes and thankfully I could, which was quite a relief.

"When they put the neck collar on me, the first thing I thought about was that my father and sister were in the crowd and I was asking if someone could tell them I was OK so that they didn't start to panic."

Smith was taken to hospital for an x-ray and it was decided he should stay overnight, which left him facing an anxious wait for news.

"The doctors weren't entirely happy with what they saw on the x-ray," he said. "There was some ambiguity, so they wanted me to have an MRI scan.

"I had to spend the night strapped onto a spinal bed and you start mulling lots of things over in your mind.

"What happened to Gwyn was one of the things I was thinking about. So I was very relieved when I had the scan and it showed no major damage to my neck or back."

Smith is due to undergo a further scan later this week to determine the full extent of the ligament problem, which will decide how long he will be out for.

"It could be anything up to a number of months," he said. "It is frustrating for this to happen at the start of the season.

"But the flip side is that I am very thankful that there was no major damage in terms of my spinal cord or the discs or bones."

With fellow scrum-half Ryan Powell also out injured, there's likely to be an opportunity at No 9 for the versatile Dean Dewdney in the Blues' opening Celtic League match in Glasgow on Friday.